These basketball drills for beginners are a great way to have your team work on their fundamentals, but do it in a slightly different way than they’re used to. Players will be building new skills while performing fun and competitive drills. The added component of a defender in many of these drills forces a degree of decision-making, which is the most important fundamental skill for your new players to develop ..read more

The 2-1-2 press does a great job of flustering an offense by forcing them to break a press by doing something they’ve been told they shouldn’t: Dribble up the sideline instead of getting the ball to the middle. The 2-1-2 press is a great change-up press to use in conjunction with another press to keep the offense guessing. If you have some athletic guards who can pressure the basketball and some posts who can cover a lot of ground, the 2-1-2 press may be something you want to try out ..read more

An assist is a pass from a player to a teammate that leads directly to a field goal. It is called an assist because a player is “assisting” the other player in scoring a basket ..read more

The 2-1-2 zone defense can be a great defense if you have the right player to put in the middle. A long athlete can shut things down in the paint and allow the other four players to focus on the outside and prevent open 3-point shots, which is oftentimes the downfall of zones. And with a couple of minor modifications, you can even make the 2-1-2 zone into a defense that pressures the offense into multiple turnovers by positioning defenders in the passing lanes ..read more

There is really nothing worse for an offensive team than a turnover. Whether it occurs from a violation or a player’s mistake, your team not getting a chance to score because of a turnover is a certain recipe for disaster. While you may never be able to eliminate them completely, there are definitely things you can do to help your team commit fewer turnovers. Developing your group into the most skilled team possible through live dribbling and passing drills will help their ability to take care of the ball and keep those turnover numbers low ..read more

If you attend a basketball game, chances are that at least once during the course of the game you will hear a coach or fan yelling “Three seconds!” This is to encourage the referee to call 3 second violation on the offense. This is a common violation that occurs, especially in youth basketball, but is also a basketball rule that's very misunderstood by coaches, players, and fans alike ..read more

The newest line that’s been added to a basketball court isn’t very big, but it’s a very important one for players, coaches, and referees alike. It’s the small arc located in the lane and it’s there to designate what is referred to as the “restricted area” on the court. In this article, I will dive into what exactly the restricted area is, why this line has been added to the court, and how you can coach your players to use it to their advantage ..read more

A backcourt violation in basketball can occur against against the offense two different ways, with both of them involving the half court line. The line itself is easy to see and understand. The turnovers that can be caused by it, however, are not… Each of them has some subtle rules that can be confusing to fans, coaches, and players. For that reason, this article will break down just what a backcourt violation in basketball is and how to coach your players to avoid them ..read more

A charge is an offensive foul that occurs when an offensive player charges into a defender. For the call to be a charge and not a block, 3 criteria must be met: 1. The defender must be in legal guarding position when the contact occurs. 2. The defender is not standing in the restricted area (does not apply to high school). 3. The defender is not the one who initiates the contact. If all 3 of these standards are met, the referee should call a charging foul ..read more

The box out is one of the simplest basketball skills to complete and can be taught to the youngest and smallest of players. But despite how relatively easy it is to perform, it could still be argued that boxing out is also the most forgotten skill in the game as it requires strict discipline to execute each possession. Regardless of age, position, or even defensive system, boxing out is an essential action that should continue to be emphasized and practiced each day ..read more